Andorra, 2007

People and planet.

They are our alpha and our omega. They are the

foundation and objective of actions by bodies such as

the United Nations.

The Earth is blue like an orange, said the poet

Paul Eluard. That is a logical statement, as our planet

takes its blue colour from the sky and the oceans that

protect us, and the orange colour from the fruit that

nourishes us. The Earth is a sphere that moves and

turns with infinite interdependence. The human

attitude, nature and peoples are bound together to form

a single scheme of debate, impossible to resolve

separately.

Every year in the General Assembly we are

pleased to feel that our work is centred on the ideals of

a better world in the environment of a democratic

structure, dialogue, the brotherhood of cultures and

financial and social interchange, supportive and

prosperous between peoples.

The latest data available to us on the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) show a positive trend. We

have made great progress in the reduction of child

mortality and we have applied various measures of

truly surprising simplicity that have demonstrated their

effectiveness in eradicating many illnesses. And yet the

inhabitants of the world — the people, flora and fauna

of the planet — look at our organizations and all of us

somewhat suspiciously. There is much concern. There

is great uncertainty.

With your permission, my words today will not

be of self-complacency either for the results

obtained or for the undeniable improvement in some of

the ailments that undermine our dignity as people.

Congratulations can give way to relaxation and can

have a perversely soothing effect on our consciences.

The development of global societies has become

essential in the light of the positions affecting

economic, social, cultural, military and political

systems on a worldwide scale. There is an urgent need

for conceptualization in the face of the evident poverty

resulting from the sudden and profound

transformations suffered by peoples, regions and

countries. Successive waves of contributions of capital

and human resources combine with pre-existing human

substrata, creating superimposed layers that further

accentuate differences. When those investments cease

to be profitable, resources are redirected. That results

in situations of change or crisis.

The realities on which we have to concentrate are

those of a world in which, according to the latest data

published by UNICEF, 9.7 million children’s lives

were lost in one year; a world in which human life

expectancy can differ by more than 30 years; a world

in which more than 39 million people are infected with

the AIDS virus; and a world in which too many people

are still without access to safe drinking water. That is

not doomsaying on my part; it is a recognition that the

advances made cannot conceal the profound

shortcomings that still exist or hold back the

achievement of results.

Indignation and rejection in the face of every

unacceptable reality have made possible the finest

achievements for the progress of humanity in a

remarkable way at the United Nations and must now

enable us to obtain more resources, to go faster, to have

more ideas and to be even more effective.

Mr. Beck (Palau), Vice-President, took the Chair.

For more than six decades, the United Nations

has sought to be the moral and legal force which

ensures that dialogue, cooperation and solidarity take

the place of oppression, weapons, famine, ignorance,

misery and injustice. However, during the years of

existence of the United Nations, wars, poverty and

intolerance have not stopped. On the contrary, we have

had to add new ills, such as the radicalization of

fundamentalism or the degradation of the environment,

and increasingly frequent natural disasters.

Earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, tornadoes

and floods and the thawing of many of the glaciers at

the two poles are vivid examples of the climatic

disorder that we have to combat. To tell the truth, the

planet is threatened; but I do not think that this is an

accurate assertion. Those really threatened are the most

vulnerable persons and countries. They are the ones

who suffer from war, illness and underdevelopment.

Climate change will affect all of us, but not all of us

equally.

At the same time, trafficking in, and the abuse of,

children and women continue despite the legal

instruments with which we have equipped countries

such as Andorra, where the defence of human rights

and liberties is considered to be a fundamental

inspiring principle.

The world of the twenty-first century views

armed conflicts, terrorism, violations of human rights

and extremely precarious situations in many areas with

something between resignation and impotence. I would

refer, merely as an example, to the extreme situation

that has affected the population of Darfur for many

years.

We should not be surprised that, faced with all

those hard realities, international institutions like ours

are suffering serious crises of discredit and significant

erosion. Nevertheless, if we are here today it is because

we believe that we can improve the world — people

and planet — because we are convinced that together

we are able to react. Hope remains intact. Every

country — whatever its size — and every director and

every organization with the capacity for action has to

fight to make law into the essence of vitality and to

achieve open and sincere dialogue in the international

arena. As Charles de Gaulle said, it takes several to

deliberate, and one to act. As Al Gore told us on

Monday, the world requires a global Marshall Plan,

because our planet is in an emergency situation.

We are delighted with the thrust and

dynamism displayed by the new Secretary-General,

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, since he took office. We praise the

efforts of the General Assembly in setting up a

Working Group on Security Council reform, as well as

the proposals that are being studied. We fully support

the model of society proposed by the United Nations

— rooted in the principles of peace, solidarity, liberty,

cooperation, social development and economic growth.

With regard to goals, I applaud the initiative of

the Millennium Development Goals. At the time of

their introduction, the previous Secretary-General

warned us that we needed to break with routine. He

told us that we could not achieve results in a day

because success would require sustained action over

the 10 years envisaged for implementation. Today,

before the entire Assembly, I add my full support to

those words. I call upon everyone to maintain the pace

and to press the foot down a little harder on the

accelerator.

We all benefit from the progress that we have

made. We know the enduring relationship that exists

between poverty and nearly all the challenges we face:

mortality rates, differences in life expectancy, ill

health, injustice, intolerance, marginalization and

armed conflict. Let us reject before the world and

before all peoples some of the pernicious prejudices

that prevent us from advancing. Permit me to recall

three truths that have been defined a number of times

by Jeffrey Sachs, the director of the Earth Institute at

Columbia University.

The first is that the illnesses ravaging poor

countries are perfectly avoidable and can be prevented.

The second is that to avoid all the thoroughly

unnecessary deaths caused by them will not affect the

population explosion. The third is that poor countries,

as has already been shown and in refutation of some

voices deliberately ignorant of their prejudices, are

capable of installing efficient public health

programmes when they receive adequate aid.

As a result of the terror and the material and

moral misery suffered during the Second World War,

countries, peoples and their representatives came to an

agreement, saying “enough” and creating organizations

such as the United Nations to regulate and mediate

conflict. They did this with a sense of generosity, a

breadth of purpose and a boldness that today must

inspire our action even more.

The ideals of the fathers of the Charter of the

United Nations were founded on a respect for

individuals, on liberty and on access to knowledge and

education to achieve welfare and peace around the

world. Only through an energetic renewal of those

ideals can we ensure that the balance on planet Earth

improves perceptibly and continues to do so year by

year. Only with the unity, understanding and

cooperation of all nations can we obtain results.

The small size of Andorra has not prevented us

from maintaining good neighbourly relationships with

France and Spain for more than seven centuries. We are

fully concerned and involved with the objectives of the

United Nations. With our long and, at the same time,

humble experience, we could even become a neutral

area, impartial and isolated from partisan interests, in

the case of any conflict in need of resolution.

We must be realistic, but this must not stop us.

We must advance with modest but continuous reforms,

tangible and firm reforms that lead us to a better future.